The long-term objective of the Project was setting up of the system of integrated planning and management of resources in the area, as well as support efforts towards the development of a national coastal management programme. The immediate objective of the MAP CAMP "Fuka-Matrouh, Egypt" was to provide solutions to development and environmental problems of the most urgent nature which could be implemented in a short run. The project was composed of two groups of activities: those primarily sectoral, focused on individual topics or issues which mostly make the analytical part of the planning process, and the activities which mostly make the analytical phase in outputs, such as CCA, ICAM Planning Study and SEA. Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) Planning Study is the main output that synthesised all the knowledge and recommendations gained by individual activities and sectoral studies. The development concept proposed in this Study and shown only within the study area boundaries is the result of the considerations of the wider regional and national context. This concept envisages the creation of an important development role in the western coastal region. The Fuka-Matrouh area is a good example of the area where an integrated coastal management plan is needed because of negative development trends, conflicting issues and complex management problems.

The "Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment for Fuka-Matrouh Coastal Zone" is one of the activities initiated through the "Coastal Area Management Programme" (CAMP) for the state of Egypt as an input to the "Coastal Zone Management Plan of the Fuka-Matrouh Area". The Tourism CCA for the Fuka-Matrouh is at the same time a part of the PAP/RAC's priority action "Development of Mediterranean Tourism Harmonised with the Environment" and represents a practical application of the "Guidelines for Carrying Capacity Assessment for Tourism in Mediterranean Coastal Areas" prepared by the PAP/RAC. The tourism CCA study for Fuka-Matrouh coastal zone had four basic objectives: (1) to offer a concept of a well balanced tourism development by identifying environmental and socio-economic issues and problems, and by assessing the resources and their interactions in the study area so that, at the same time, the needs of the population in the area are fulfilled; (2) to present and promote this concept to local and regional authorities, entrepreneurs, planners and local population; (3) To prove the applicability of the PAP methodology for carrying capacity assessment for this area, as a representative for less developed Mediterranean countries facing challenges of fast and sometimes uncontrolled development; and (4) to serve as a model to other areas in Egypt, as well as in some other Mediterranean countries, or even countries outside the Mediterranean, as a pilot document for carrying capacity assessment. The optimum carrying capacity assessment for tourism for the study area had to be used also as an input for the coastal area management plan to control and guide future potential tourism development in the study area.

As a result of the uncontrolled human presence and extensive exploration in the Mediterranean basin, where the harmful impacts of these actions are visible all over the region - a world-wide concern has developed regarding how to deal with conflicts over land use policies, how to apply the principles of sustainable development, and how to introduce an integrated coastal and marine areas planning and management. The area covered by the ICAM Planning Study is the section between the village of Fuka and the town of Marsa-Matrouh, approximately 70 km wide. The final product of the activity is the ICAM Planning Study providing strategies and management guidelines as a framework for à more detailed coastal management and land use planning to be undertaken in the second phase. This document is the result of the first phase, based on a participatory process as well as on sectoral reports and research findings. This study process has been based on the MAP/PAP guidelines. The principal goal of this document is to provide a safe ground for the whole process of cutting across sectoral boundaries, and incorporating the interactions between the coastal natural resources, and those of socio-economic influences affecting the coastal environment. The structure of the report is moving through the following steps: context, goals and objectives; methodology; the area profile, constraints and opportunities; proposed alternative scenarios; and certain conclusions addressing strategic EIA, Carrying Capacity Assessment proposals for a structure plan, as well as planning and management tools and guidelines.

The document presents Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Integrated Coastal Area Management Plan of the Fuka-Matrouh Area. Under the conditions of the study area, nature, and the limiting factors (water, energy, rare and endangered species), an integrated coastal area management plan was designed. One of the most important plans, which should be implemented immediately, is the socio-economic awareness programme. Programmes of water supply, institutional capacity building, and land use planning, together with preservation of cultural and ecological sites, must be developed concurrently in an integrated fashion. Strategic environmental assessment study was implemented by using the matrix method for identifying environmental effects and impacts. Results indicate that the most significant positive impacts are due to the development of transportation systèms upgrading of awareness, and better employment of local people. The most important negative impacts may be attributed to pollution due to tourism and associated waste. The alternatives for actions in the study area are very limited. There are no alternatives of significant importance of traffic infrastructure (airport, road network) development. Suitability analysis based on GIS, associated with integrated coastal area management, can enhance à comprehensive vision of development in the study area. The study proposes following measures to mitigate the most prominent problems: (1) three plantation to protect against wind storms and air pollution from traffic; (2) wastewater recycling units for each resort; (3) cultivation of the hinterland to reduce transportation of goods in the summer and reduce pollution, and (4) minimising quarrying to reduce pollution and protect hinterland from wind action.

In the framework of the MAP's activities concerning the Fuka-Matrouh CAMP, the CTM-RAC/ERS oriented its intervention towards the provision of basic information on geomorphology, pedology and vegetation, and presented it in cartographic format - in order to allow the assessment of land resources in the area. The CTM-RAC/ERS application, it has been demonstrated the time and cost effectiveness of the methodology of integrated survey which relies on the most suitable combination of different observation tools and thus strongly supported by à multidisciplinary approach. The general objective of the proposed activity was the implementation of à multidisciplinary application through which information on land resources could be obtained, in particular, taking into account several parameters concerning land forms, natural vegetation distribution, and soil characteristics. Such à multidisciplinary approach is based on the application of advanced techniques - like space remote-sensing - and on their most suitable combination with direct in situ measurement. The results of the CTM-RAC/ERS intervention allowed to obtain useful information on the Fuka-Matrouh region, necessary to planners and decision-makers for the evaluation of land suitability to different potential uses.

This paper was prepared for the needs of the MAP-PAP project of integrated planning and management of the Fuka-Matrouh coastal area, and provides up-dated knowledge and data on all aspects relevant for the project, i.e.: a brief description of the area, activities of international organisations, statistical data on the area, description of the state of the environment, review of coastal area protection measures at the national level, review of national institutions dealing with the protection of marine environment against pollution and erosion, review of the draft Low on Environmental Protection, review of water resources, state of soil erosion, and a note on GIS.